Kohli remains atop ICC Test rankings for batsmen

Dubai: India captain Virat Kohli retained his number one spot in the latest ICC Test batsmen's rankings, a statement from the international body said on Tuesday. Kohli is on 922 points with New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (913) just behind him and Cheteshwar Pujara (881) third in the rankings list.

In the Test team rankings, India remained in top position followed by New Zealand (2) and South Africa (3) with England (4) and Australia (5) the others in the top five. In the bowlers' list, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are sixth and 10th respectively.

Meanwhile, veteran England pacer James Anderson was ruled out of the four-day Test against Ireland starting on Wednesday due to a right calf injury.

Anderson, who was overtaken by South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada in November last year and subsequently by the present No. 1 Pat Cummins of Australia, is ranked second and would have had a chance to bridge the 16-point gap in the one-off Lord's Test before featuring in a potential direct contest with Pat Cummins in the subsequent Ashes series.

Anderson's fellow England fast bowler Stuart Broad (19th) will be looking to retain a top-20 place, which he maintained since 2009, while Moeen Ali (25th, 621 points) is only 12 points behind his best ever rating points achieved in August 2017.

Captain Joe Root is the highest-ranked batsman on either side in sixth place while Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are in 26th and 27th places, respectively.

For Ireland, Kevin O'Brien's scores of 40 and 118 on debut against Pakistan and a subsequent half-century against Afghanistan have lifted him to 68th place while Gary Wilson is 140th in the batting table.

Stuart Thompson is their highest-ranked bowler in 64th position with Tim Murtagh just two places behind. Boyd Rankin, who played one Test for England in 2014, would be looking to improve his 106th position.

In the all-rounders' list, the best ranked Indian is Jadeja at third spot sitting behind West Indies' Jason Holder and Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.